NDB Rwy 32 Approach into St Mary's Airport (EGHE)...

[P_7878 6,709]

First of all, the monumental feat of airmanship while landing the (massive) C-17 on Scilly Isles' EGHE Runway...🙂...see Andy's post...should be something to seriously reckon with...🙂... Andy says it took several attempts, but surely, he has nailed it on his final attempt. And, if one can do it once, one will probably be able to repeat it without as much difficulty...being already familiar with the terrain and approach features of this unique airport.

Anyway, after viewing that post I felt encouraged to try, for myself, a landing into the other (north) Runway of EGHE (Andy had landed on the west Rwy 27; see the overhead image below (shot #3) of the crisscrossing (09/27 and 14/32) runways). I noticed that Rwy 32 of EGHE allows for an NDB approach. Now, it has been more than 10 years since I last accomplished an NDB approach in the SIM (you see, these are the days of GPS, FMS and EFB...anything less (such as VOR/NDB Navigation) is tantamount to stone age (aviation) technology...🙂...because these are now obsolete...) ...Moreover, in MSFS, I didn't have a good idea about how to set up for an NDB Approach. Some research indicated that the G1000 allows for tuning to the desired NDB frequency (for St Mary's EGHE Rwy 32, the NDB (ID = STM) frequency is "321.0"). Once tuned, the HSI on the PFD (indeed) displayed the blue ADF Needle with the top arrow "always" pointing towards the NDB ground station (see my 2nd shot, below, where the PFD shows the ADF needle and the MFD shows the NDB station). The published radial to (EGHE) Rwy 32 NDB Approach is "324" degrees. So, if the nose of the aircraft is aligned to 324 degrees, with the blue (top) arrow of the ADF needle pointing straight ahead...then the aircraft is on track towards the threshold of the destination runway. Frankly, I found it a bit tricky...being not used to it..., but it all eventually did work out well enough to make a smooth touchdown on the first attempt (see my landing images). 

So, please find 20 pictures, as I've lifted off Rwy 14, in the opposite direction, climbed to 1,500 ft, proceeded out over the sea for 10 nms, and then made a U-turn backwards to track the NDB signal of the HSI, while aligning the a/c to 324 degrees heading.

I certainly need more practice with such procedures in MSFS, but it was good fun overall, especially approaching (and landing) into such a picturesque (island) airport. Of course, I have preferred to test this procedure with my trusty (and meek) Cessna Skyhawk, but the C-17 (or the C-130) would be the farthest things on my mind for this exercise...🙂...

Thanks for viewing this collection of images from this simple experiment...! Hope you enjoy...!

Edited April 27 by P_7878

[pmplayer 9,573]

Just nice shots P_7878 !

Nice Island is the last shot..

cheers 😉

Edited April 27 by pmplayer

[Todd2 2,126]

Your previous post inspired me to update my scenery and take a flight there to the mainland.

[tymk 108]

Great shots of a beautiful location, one of my favourites in the sim. BTW, I wholeheartedly recommend Superspud's excellent freeware rendition (see https://flightsim.to/file/3615/eghe-st-mary-s-airport-isles-of-scilly-uk-upgrade). It takes the experience of the area to an entirely new level, especially the approach to RW 32:

Edited April 27 by tymk

[andy1252 3,935]

Another lovely set P_7878! Between us we must be making loads of money for the folk in the cafe at the airport!

Gotta say though, I don't have the slightest idea what all that stuff in your second paragraph is all about! It made me think about my days as a mainframe technical instructor and how I used to be able to talk IBM for hours at a time! (and that's not me knocking you at all, far from it, I'm full of admiration for all you folk who actually understand all that flying stuff).

I'm really glad we're having this little burst of Scilliness! It's a great place to visit and really well done in the sim. I seem to remember it was one of those neglected places in the FSX/P3D days. There had been some scenery done at some point but the folk who did it dropped out of the picture and it became unsupported and unavailable.

And I'm just about to go back there again - watch this space!

[ailchim 213]

Beautiful scenery and great pics but I've never seen the Atlantic that calm.  It is after all Newfoundland next stop from there.  

[Alaska738 8,473]

Very nice shots! 😉 

[UrgentSiesta 936]

Old school flying in a glass cockpit - love it!

[andiflyit 468]

Nice set again P_7878. Honestly, in VFR conditions I don't use any procedure to land at such an airport. If I can see it I fly in from any direction by view.

The only requirement for any helping procedure is to find the airport.

[P_7878 6,709]

Folks: Many thanks for the feedback and comments...!

 

8 hours ago, andy1252 said:

Another lovely set P_7878! Between us we must be making loads of money for the folk in the cafe at the airport!

Gotta say though, I don't have the slightest idea what all that stuff in your second paragraph is all about! It made me think about my days as a mainframe technical instructor and how I used to be able to talk IBM for hours at a time! (and that's not me knocking you at all, far from it, I'm full of admiration for all you folk who actually understand all that flying stuff).

I'm really glad we're having this little burst of Scilliness! It's a great place to visit and really well done in the sim. I seem to remember it was one of those neglected places in the FSX/P3D days. There had been some scenery done at some point but the folk who did it dropped out of the picture and it became unsupported and unavailable.

And I'm just about to go back there again - watch this space!

Yes, Andy, surely St Mary's (and its Cafe) surely has got some (extra) business lately...🙂...BTW, "Scilly" sounds quite an interesting name...🙂 ...when you told me about it for the first time....I kept misspelling it, and it took a couple of posts to get it right...🙂.... Indeed, it's such a lovable little place to visit...

 

8 hours ago, ailchim said:

Beautiful scenery and great pics but I've never seen the Atlantic that calm.  It is after all Newfoundland next stop from there.  

Appreciated the comment. Agree, I have read that the waters of the Atlantic around here especially can be pretty rough...compared to the serene appearance it gives here...🙂...

 

5 hours ago, Alaska738 said:

Very nice shots! 😉 

Thank you, Will.

 

5 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Old school flying in a glass cockpit - love it!

Yes...in a Glass Cockpit...🙂...It was quite interesting to be able to also see the (physical) location of St Mary's NDB Station on the MFD Map...all the time...

 

2 hours ago, andiflyit said:

Nice set again P_7878. Honestly, in VFR conditions I don't use any procedure to land at such an airport. If I can see it I fly in from any direction by view.

The only requirement for any helping procedure is to find the airport.

Thank you for the comment, Andreas.

True, I just used it here for a bit of old-style nostalgia and fun to see if it works in MSFS...🙂....Once I was close enough (and in sight of the airport), it was pretty much visual all the way down, anyway...